Do you have the right DIY skills for your age? How many of these odd jobs can you do?
How many of these tasks have you nailed?
Younger generations often get a hard time for not knowing the most basic DIY skills, tending to instead rely on Mum and Dad, or opting to just pay someone to get the job done.
But, as research from Insulation Express shows, it's not just millennials losing their DIY touch, but the whole of the UK. Last year there were nearly 3 million Google searches regarding some of the most basic DIY tasks.
However, knowing how to master some of these skills yourself, by the time you get to a certain age, could save you nearly £2,500 in professional costs. Plus, they will give you the freedom to work on your own home renovation projects without being limited by availability or budget.
Related:Your garden can add £45,000 to the value of your home – here's how!
So here are the DIY tasks you should have the skills to complete, by each age milestone.
DIY tasks you should have mastered by age 16
1. Change a lightbulb (professional cost, £0). Although changing a lightbulb is one of the most simple of DIY tasks, 66, 840 still googled how to do this last year alone.
2. Wire a plug (professional cost, £40)
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3. Sew a button (professional cost, £10 for 8 buttons)
DIY tasks you should have mastered by age 21
1. Fix a dripping tap (professional cost, £94). Do you have a wrench at the ready?
2. Turn off the water supply (professional cost, £0). You should be able to locate your stopcock in a jiffy. Try under the sink first!
3. Construct flat-pack furniture (professional cost, £35-70). Do you know how to attach leg A to tabletop B with screw C without throwing a tamtrum?
4. Hem clothing (professional cost, £35 per item)
Don't know how? How to change a tap and give your kitchen a fresh new look
DIY tasks you should have mastered by age 30
1. Hang a picture (professional cost, £138 for 6 pictures). OK, so one frame might be easy enough to deal with, but arranging a group can be trickier!
2. Paint a wall (professional cost, £1500 for a whole house)
3. Put up a shelf (professional cost, £88 per shelf). Yes, and it DOES need to be level!
4. Bleed a radiator (professional cost, £100 for 10 radiators). No getting any of that dirty water on the carpets, please!
DIY tasks you should have mastered by age 40
1. Wire a new light switch (professional cost, £75 per switch). Hmmm, although we think this is one job you SHOULD be leaving to the professionals. If you are in any doubt consult a competent person who is registered with an electrical certification scheme.
2. Restore furniture (professional cost, £150 per item)
3. Clean the gutters (professional cost, £150 per item)
Nail all these yourself and you'll save a bundle, but how many do you think you can do, and which will you have to shell out on?
Holly Walsh was Content Editor at Ideal Home from 2021-2024 but joined the brand back in 2015. With a background of studies in Interior Design, her career in interior journalism was a no-brainer and her passion for decorating homes is still as strong as it ever was, now she is a freelance interiors writer and shopping editor. While Holly has written for most of the home titles at Future, including Livingetc, Country Homes & Interiors, Homes and Gardens and Style at Home, Ideal Home has always been her ideal home, and she can still be found sharing her expertise and advice across both the printed magazine and the website, while also raising her two young children.
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